Published by New Jersey Stage
Here is the morning update from New Jersey's arts newswire. We regularly publish between 8-15 new articles and news reports each day. Nobody covers the Arts throughout the Garden State like New Jersey Stage!If your arts organization sends out press releases, make sure you have [email protected] on your media list for coverage.
theatre
Theater League of Clifton presents "The Altos" - an Interactive Dinner Theater Comedy Mystery

(WAYNE, NJ) -- The Theater League of Clifton will present "The Altos," an interactive dinner theater comic mystery by David Landau, for three weekends in August 2026. Meet the crime family that inspired it all: the Altos! (like 'The Sopranos', only lower!) The first week of performances take place The Village Inn in Wayne and the last weeks at Mario's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Clifton.
Bergen County Players receives 15 Perry Award Nominations

(ORADELL, NJ) -- Fresh off being named the #1 Live Theater Venue in (201) Magazine's Best of Bergen Poll, Bergen County Players (BCP) is celebrating another major milestone. The historic community theater company has earned an impressive 15 New Jersey Association of Community Theaters (NJACT) Perry Award nominations honoring excellence in its 93rd season.
Spotlight Players present Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

(MATAWAN, NJ) -- Spotlight Players invites audiences of all ages to experience the wonder, imagination, and unforgettable music of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the Broadway musical runs across two weekends from August 7-16, 2026 for a limited six-performance engagement.
Chimera Productions presents "Job" at Paul Robeson Center for the Arts

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- New Jersey-based theater company Chimera Productions will present its 17th production, Job by Max Wolf Friedlich, from August 13-15, 2026 at 8:00pm each night. The play, presented in the intimate 60-seat theater inside Princeton's Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, is a psychological thriller that offers a sharp, darkly funny, and unsettling examination of our addiction to work, the internet, the cost of modern life, and what we're willing to sacrifice to belong.
Asbury Park Theater Company to Hold Open Auditions for "The Wolves" by Sarah DeLappe

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Asbury Park Theater Company (APTCo) has announced that its first mainstage production under newly appointed Producing Artistic Director Nate Patten will be The Wolves, Sarah DeLappe's Pulitzer Prize finalist play that has captivated audiences across the country with its sharp wit, emotional honesty, and unforgettable portrait of young women finding their voices.
music
Bruce Hornsby’s Indigo Park Tour LIVE! at MPAC

Spotlight Central and Love Imagery have photos and a recap of Bruce Hornsby and The Noisemakers at Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) on July 24, 2026.
The Temptations to Bring the Motor City to the Ocean City Boardwalk on August 18th

(OCEAN CITY, NJ) -- Legendary Motown group The Temptations look to continue their celebrated touring schedule with a summer stop at America's Greatest Family Resort, Ocean City, New Jersey on Tuesday, August 18, 2026. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and multiple GRAMMY Award winners celebrate more than six decades of hits with their acclaimed live performances, remain one of the most enduring and influential groups in American popular music. Renowned worldwide for their signature harmonies, impeccable choreography, and an iconic catalog of timeless hits, their legacy continues to span generations.
Makin Waves Song of the Week: "Josephine" by Emily Grove

The Makin Waves Song of the Week is "Josephine" from Emily Grove's forthcoming EP, "Fables," which she will celebrate the release of Aug. 3 at Watermark in Asbury Park.
Rock On! This Week's Sound Bites... 07/30/2026

"Yeah, the idea started early last year," enthusiastically stated guitarist Adrian Vandenberg as he discussed his upcoming "My Whitesnake Years" tour, a conglomeration of hits from some of the most revered classic rock acts of all time. "Last year it was 35 years ago when Whitesnake headlined the legendary Donington Festival in England. So, we thought it would be a good thing to celebrate that anniversary and do a "My Whitesnake Years" tour and when we were done, people from all over the world began asking if we'd be willing to do a run here or there and we went to Scandinavia, Spain and there is actually more stuff in the pipeline for next year also and of course now to the United States and it has been a lot of fun so far."
film
New Release Review - "Saccharine"

The recent wave of women-directed horror movies centred on image insecurity (The Substance, Thinestra, Grafted, The Ugly Stepsister et al) have all fallen into the body-horror sub-genre. These movies share a Monkey's Paw "be careful what you wish for" setup in which an insecure female protagonist unleashes a nightmare after trying a "quick fix" to alter their looks. Natalie Erika James' Saccharine has a similar starting point, but the scares here are of the supernatural rather than body-horror variety.
Film Review - "Nightborn"

Pregnancy horror movies fall into one of two categories. There are those, like Rosemary's Baby, that play out during the pregnancy term, and there are others, like It's Alive, that focus on the horrors that arise once the child is born. They all tend to share a female protagonist's fear that her child, whether it's inside or outside of her womb, is something monstrous.
books
High Altitudes and High Stakes: Virtual Discussion with Author Lucy Foley on August 27th

(TOMS RIVER, NJ) -- Join Lucy Foley, author of the brand-new Miss Marple mystery, Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel, on Thursday, August 27, 2026 for a virtual discussion presented by the Ocean County Library. The event begins at 2:00pm.
community
Top 15 Most Read Stories At New Jersey Stage from July 26 to August 1, 2026

Here's a look at the top 15 most read articles published on New Jersey Stage from July 26 to August 1, 2026. Each week we publish at least 70 articles, including original columns and features, promoting events and covering arts news taking place throughout the state and nearby areas like Philadelphia and New York City. This week's top 15 includes articles from 9 counties in New Jersey (Atlantic, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Passaic).
Passaic County Fair Returns to Garret Mountain August 13-16

(WOODLAND PARK, NJ) -- The Passaic County Board of County Commissioners and Friends of Passaic County Parks, Inc. invite residents and visitors from across the region to the 2026 Passaic County Fair, running Thursday, August 13 through Sunday, August 16 at Garret Mountain Reservation in Paterson/Woodland Park.
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